Familiar faces returning

Some good news out of Phoenix for Rampage fans — three players who had strong seasons will return for 2009-2010.

David Spina, Jeff Hoggan and Sean Sullivan will be back barring any future transactions — like making the big club or being dealt elsewhere. All three signed up with the Coyotes organization for the coming year.

Spina, a crowd favorite with his bursts of speed and energy, had a career season with San Antonio last year, leading the team in scoring (54 points) and assists (38) and taking over as the all-time leading franchise scorer with 104 points in 139 games. Not the biggest guy on the ice, but there aren’t many AHL players around who can outskate and outhustle the native Arizonan, who is hoping to be the first person from his homestate to skate in the NHL. Coincidence — but Spina was out with a head injury during the team’s record 17-game winless streak in November.

Hoggan was the team captain last year and finished as the team’s top goal scorer (22) before a season-ending injury in late March. Hoggan was a stalwart in the locker room, especially during the month long drought that put the team in a 2-20-0-1 hole, as he was always ready to talk about the misery of losing in so many creative ways. His leadership will also be a key factor in any post-season hopes. Hoggan also had a four-game stint in Phoenix last season, notching an assist.

With Sullivan returning, a Boston accent will be assured in the locka room. Sully led the Rampage blueliners in scoring, and has been improving every season on the backline. The former Boston University captain gained confidence as the season progressed, and added that much needed scoring punch from defensemen the Rampage have lacked in their non-playoff seasons.

In Case You Missed It

Earlier this month, the Coyotes added goaltender Jason LaBarbera right after the free agent feeding frenzy began. Although not a signing that will have local and Coyotes hockey fans jumping with glee, LaBarbara may have the inside track on the Phoenix goaltending depth chart, mainly because of his more NHL flavored resume, as opposed to Al Montoya and Josh Tordjman.

LaBarbera, twice a winner of the AHL’s Bastien Award given to the league’s best goalie — once with Manchester and once with Hartford — was a combined 8-10-6 last year with the NHL Kings and Canucks, with a 2.74 GAA.

Just two seasons ago, he was the Kings starter and went 17-23-2 after getting his second Bastien Aware when he won 39 games for the Monarchs with seven shutouts and a 2.20 GAA. In his other Bastien season, he posted 13 whitewashes in posting an impressive 1.54 GAA with Hartford six years ago.

Phoenix GM Don Maloney knows what LaBarbera is capable of, since they have the New York Rangers connection. But Maloney should be impressed to some degree by the work of Montoya, also once a Ranger farmhand, after the former Wolverine and first round pick finally got his NHL chance late in the season. With the Coyotes playing out the string once again, Montoya went 3-1 with a 2.08 GAA, including a shutout in his debut against the Colorado Avalanche. Granted, the Avalanche weren’t the second coming of the 70′s Islanders, but an NHL shutout is an NHL shutout, right? And it came on the road as well.

That leaves Tordjman as the odd man out right now. Josh had an NHL opportunity of his own in early March, facing the New York Isalnders and New Jersey Devils, going 0-2. Tordjman did make eye contact with his boyhood idol, Martin Brodeur in the pre-game skate of the Devils game. That may have made his NHL appearences memorable, but the bottom line was he did have some shaky moments. All the more for him to refine his game at the AHL level, and should he return to the Rampage net, he’ll do so as the franchise leader in games, wins and shutouts.

On offense, here’s a strange stat! Tordjman’s seven assists in 132 Rampage games gives him one more point than Grant McNeill and Francis Lessard had combined in the same amount of games, although Josh does have 645 fewer penalty minutes than those two former San Antonio “protectors.”

It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out at training camp in September in the desert.

Former Rampage defenseman Keith Yandle, third all time in Rampage blueline scoring behind Travis Roche and Bryan Helmer, reupped with Phoenix for two more years. Yandle was never reluctant to trudge the puck up ice, and his strength on the point during the power play is an asset, but while he was in San Antonio, his actions on the ice said, “I should be in Phoenix,” to the point where was benched before being recalled. Hopefully, now that he’s made the big time and the big bucks, he has a big time attitude adjustment as well.

Tony Uminski

3 Responses

true — but Mr. Glass Jaw got to raise the Calder Cup this year with the Hershey Bears and even scored a rare goal in limited playoff time. One thing about McNeill, he didn’t win many fights, but he was fearless, usually putting himself in a bad position because he didn’t believe in dancing around first. Also, he was always there for his teammates. Good attributes.